


The Gold Lion Job (Hiatus)

by Fangirltothefullest



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (If I end up making one of the chapters a sexytimes chapter I will amend the previous tag), AKA the Leverage-type fic no one asked for but is getting anyways, Also Zarkon is way worse than you are expecting and you already expected him to be bad, Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Hacker, Heist, I was asked to tag it polydins, Lance (Voltron) Speaks Spanish, M/M, Mastermind, Multi, No aliens in this fic, SEXUAL ANTICS IMPLIED IN THE WEIRDEST WAYS BUT NEVER ACTUALLY SPECIFIED, Sendak's a bitch, Thief, Voltron Heist AU, and I can't refuse because everyone loves everyone, and mostly catering on Coran's part, cursing, for some reason there are a lot of wealthy people doing shady things in basements, grifter - Freeform, hitter, just a bunch of ragtag humans, let's pick on Keith, technitian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-03 13:35:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8715940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirltothefullest/pseuds/Fangirltothefullest
Summary: When a young woman comes to Allura for help, claiming that her brother was sent to the ER after finding some kind of suspicious documents at Galra Industries, the Private Investigator promises to get those documents for her brother's case. Assembling a team of societies villains isn't as easy as it should be but taking down crooked CEO Sendak should be simple. Get in, use the Gold Lion as a distraction, get the documents and get out. What we imagine, however, tends to go far more smoothly than what actually happens and before the team knows what hit them, they are pulled into a world of deeper conspiracies that go beyond a few misplaced numbers. Perhaps Sendak isn't the one they should be worried about.....





	1. The Client

The woman who sat on the chair looking miserable was called by the name of Shay Balmer. She was tall and broad with hair cut short and large hooped earrings. When she spoke she had the kind of soft voice one might expect to hear in the movies. It was gentle, regardless that this tall woman could probably bench press the other woman in the room without much effort. Her dark skin was beautiful and even as she fidgeted, and Allura Altea knew this 'client' was worried. "You were the only person left that I could go to."

"I am not sure how I can help." Allura explained, setting a tea cup in front of the woman before seating herself on the chair opposite her and smoothing down her crisp white pencil skirt. "This kind of matter is better left up to the police."

For a moment there was nothing but silence as the clock inaudibly ticked away. Shay lifted the cup into her hands and seemed to stare into it, but it was not the tea she was looking at. She stared far beyond it and for a moment her expression shifted from concern to a look of sheer and utter helplessness, thinking of things far beyond their little talk and the implications that said things had on her circumstances.

Tapping her fingers on the tea cup, she sipped and set it back down. She seemed to shift her mouth as if trying to form the right words and this carried on for longer than Allura would normally allow her client. In this instance, however, she was willing to wait, for she knew that whatever it was Shay had weighing so heavily on her shoulder must surely be important.

Allura could wait because she knew the other had no one else she could turn to; this kind of scenario was dangerous. A person with only a fragment of a concept on how to help her situation meant she was desperate and the same desperation that brought her here could cast her aside like a frightened bird if she were not careful.

After all, Allura was thorough, precise and an excellent judge of character and intention.

"I already tried the police." Shay spoke at last and the distress in her voice was sharp and almost palpable. "They told me that they would try to find who is responsible but I already know who is and by the time they get to the matter and obtain proof? That file will sit on their desk under other more important cases and be lost. My brother will have suffered needlessly and it will be too late." She lifted the tea again but she looked distracted and set it back down once more. Accepting it was probably out of courtesy alone.

"Do you know why he was shot?" Allura asked as she lifted the police report the other had set in front of her on her way in.

"Yes," she nodded, "he found some kind of file on the company's computers that showed some inconsistencies with the payment transactions. On the night he got shot he was going to bring the files with the numbers to the police. They caught him in the parking lot of his work and by the time someone found him and took him to the hospital it was almost too late. He's in a coma right now..... And I know that whatever he found? If it was bad enough to try and kill him then they have to be stopped."

Allura steeped her fingers in front of her on her lap and thought for a moment. "What is it you are asking me to do....? I am not sure if I can help... I am a private investigator but I do not usually involve myself in cases of this scale.... If he was shot by hired, professional hit-men there is a chance they could get away with it even if I bring it to court and-"

 "Miss Altea..... My brother has dedicated his whole life to this company. He worked hard to make a name for us and works hard. Right now with him out of work my paycheck is hardly enough to pay for his medical bills, much less for food. I don't want money, Miss Altea. I want the man who had my brother shot to pay for what he did." Allura watched Shay clench her fists and glare daggers at the tea cup. If looks could kill she would be a murderer. "I want him to be exposed.... whatever my brother found, I want it back and I want his scheming stopped."

Allura nodded. "It would be difficult..... But yes. I think we can help you."

Shay looked up, surprised. " _'We'?_ " She watched Allura stand and press a finger to her lips as she thought.

"Yes." She muttered. "I will have to assemble the team but... I think I have the perfect people in mind." She turned to Shay and grinned brightly. "We will get those files back Miss Balmer. And we will make sure you and your brother get compensation too."

Shay stood and shook the other's hand, but frowned. "I cannot pay you...."

"You won't need to," insisted Allura. "Just put your faith in me and I will do the rest."

"Thank you...." Shay, weary and tired, turned and left quickly and Allura watched her close the door.

"How do you steal hidden documents from a corrupt businessman....?" She said aloud to no one in particular and turned, walking down the hall of her house to her office. Inside, the room was covered on the walls with maps and pictures, faces and posters and all sorts of other clippings and articles. Strings connected certain areas with pins and she followed a string for a moment and tapped the photo it landed on. "Yes....." She muttered, taking a step back. "Yes I think this could work..... I wonder if these children would like to step away from the sand box and play in the grown up's field for a while...?" She chuckled as she lifted a random picture off the wall. "Oh yes.... this will be interesting indeed........."


	2. The First Grifter

When she found her first recruit at _La Marea Azul_ a beachfront bar on the coast of Cuba, he was sitting on the counter and draped over it like a more refined version of a back alley stripper as he slid thin fingers under a woman’s chin and cooed words at her in Spanish. He was dressed like a bartender and the woman’s drink was seated beside him, but Allura knew he was not the bartender and wondered just how he'd weaseled his way into being behind the counter. She watched him laugh and smile like he was the world’s best flirt and the woman, ever enthralled, giggled and spoke softly in response.

She watched with a practiced eye as he easily lured the woman’s gaze to meet his own ocean blues and before Allura could make a mental note, the woman was writing a note. She stood, finished her glass and shouldered her purse, kissing him on the lips and whispering something to his ear when she leaned in. She discretely handed him what looked like a generous amount of money as she did this and he whispered something back, making her blush.

Seconds later the woman was walking away quickly and proudly, her head held high and a bright glow about her. Allura knew she was in for a nasty surprise by morning but she didn't speak to her as she left. Engaging the woman wasn't her priority right now and she had other pressing matters to attend to.

Most notably the tan brunet tending bar.

When she approached, Allura sat down like any other customer and stayed quiet a moment to scan him. He was wearing an outfit that was just a bit (and deliberately) too tight and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His hair wasn't quite combed perfectly and he wore an apron with a few stains here and there from the occasional whipped cream wipe and drink smear. It was an odd kind of purposeful (and horrendously pretentious) dishevelment and she knew he owned every second of it, having carefully planned the look. Even she could not help but silently admit he pulled it off with class.

This man, no younger than 18 at the very least, had his back to her though and was counting the money he had been given. “Give me something bubbly.” She watched him shift and pocket the cash quietly as he turned, the motion fluid and an average person not trained to see the slight-of-hand movements might not have even noticed it.

“Well hello there gorgeous, what’s a flower like you doing in a rat hole like this? I would’ve thought someone so lovely would be at a bar in Havana.” He grinned and flashed perfect pearly whites. As he spoke, he moved his hands to grip a bottle and a glass, working swiftly to pour and mix some kind of alcoholic concoction that she had requested.

"I drifted into town on a hunch." She replied smoothly, leaning on an elbow to watch him work. "Call it intuition.... but I think you are exactly the kind of person I need."

Hearing this, his mouth curved into a smile sweet and sultry as he leaned forward. " _Mi bonita_ , you flatter me. I work until eleven but you can-" Allura's hand shot up swiftly, bracelets clacking as she pressed a finger to his lips and flashed him her own sneaky grin.

"Oh I am not here to flirt with you. I know what you are, I saw you ensnare that woman for money and I saw you put it into your pocket. That's quite a lot of under the table cash, wouldn't you say....?"

His sultry look vanished and he narrowed those pretty blue eyes as he backed up and finished making the drink, setting it down. When he next smiled, it was different. Cheeky. "I don't know what you mean." He replied, shrugging. "I'm just a _simple bartender_."

"A bartender who has somehow managed to rake in every high end roller and gambler in the country into coming to this very unclassy, very uncouth bar?" She took a sip of the drink and smiled, pleased at the sweetness of the bubbly as it fizzed at her lips, but she could tell this was not quality stuff. He sure must have had a way with words or body language to make those high end, hoity-toity rich folk spend their cash here. She let him stew a minute, looking at the drink and waited for the right moment. The blue tint of the top of the drink was beautiful; he sure knew how to craft them for aesthetic at least. "I know who you are, Lance McClain, I am a private inspector, catching crooks is what I do best." Her smirk was triumphant and if he hadn't been in the middle of his charade then perhaps he would have broken character to grace her words with a snarky reply but for now he was under visual surveillance and she knew that by the way he kept smiling. "I have traveled far to find you so let us be rid of formalities and cut to the chase, shall we? I have a job for you."

"Look lady, I don't care if you are the Queen of England." Lance had hushed his voice and leaned against the bar with his arms crossed and tilted his head like he would for any mark when flirting with them. This time though he was anything but tense and she could see how squared he'd made his shoulders. "If you know who I am then you know that generally I work alone. I haven't worked with a team since...."

"I know."

"So then you know that I wouldn't waste my talents on anyone, especially not a private investigator, who could easily get me arrested later on."

Amused, Allura leaned forward, setting her elbows on the bar and leaning on her hands. "What makes you think I'm not already here to arrest you?

"You and I both know if you wanted to arrest me you'd have evidence and cops would already be swarming this place." He shrugged. "And it's your word against mine and I've been doing this a long time. There are a lot of wealthy people who would vouch for me if necessary with all the dirt I have on them." He backed off the counter and held his hands up in mock defeat. "I've got all my bases covered so take your offer somewhere _else_."

Rolling her eyes, Allura slipped a paper forward and that seemed to catch his attention. "What if I told you that this job would pay a lot of money?"

He frowned. "How much are we talking?"

Oh it was so easy to lure people when they were already on the side of bribery, trickery and thievery. "Let's just say... if we pull this off.... a LOT of money." She emphasized every word and gestured to the paper with a lift of her eyebrows and a gesture of her head.

Lance grabbed the paper and said, "who else?"

Allura grinned. "That paper contains the name of the client who hired me and the reason for this assignment. Below that is a list of every individual I have selected for this job, a short description of the intended plan, and the name of the intended object."

He scanned the list of names for several seconds and pocketed the note as soon as his eyes read over the intended target. "I'm in." He flashed another cheeky grin. "This dump wasn't making me nearly enough money anyways." He placed his hand firmly on the counter and heaved himself up and over it in a quick stride. "But your list is seriously lacking. I refuse to do this without adding one more person."

"Oh?" She looked at him, incredulous.

"We need a second Grifter." He untied his apron and looked at her right in the eyes, grinning. "And I have the perfect one in mind....."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is me in advance of the future saying pardon the Spanish. I'm having a friend help me but I'm not always good at remembering how many things I'm actually having him say OTL.


	3. The Second Grifter

The flight took two hours and the car ride was apprehensive.

Truth be told Lance could have pulled off the Grift without the help of another Grifter. Allura had investigated and tailed him long enough to know that the other was severely skilled in his cons. There was no reason she should have gone along with his plan to gather a secondary recruit for this position, but she couldn't help herself. She had been trying to locate the elusive ‘ _Silver Tongued Shirogane_ ’ for two months prior to her current client and the other was as elusive as a shadow. Hell, she didn't even know if ‘Takashi Shirogane’ was his real name. Grifters tended not to be the most honest people as their profession as con artists lead them to taking on varying aliases throughout their lives and careers. All she knew of him was that he only hit rich people, and he always got the object of his desire and left without a trace.

The only reason anyone knew of him at all was through word of mouth from other Grifters. No one knew what he looked like, no one knew him other than the stories.

Some said he was a massive monster at ten feet tall with bulging muscles that could kill you immediately. Others said he was a shadow lurker who came out only to seduce you and leave you in tears.

All of these stories were absolute rubbish, Allura knew, but she was still intrigued and was praying silently that he was at least not the manipulative bastard some folks claimed him to be. Apparently he was said to have infiltrated so deeply into a government position that he was able to be handed classified documents right to his face and walk away with them without ever being found out.

The real trick to knowing what was a lie and what was real was to meet the person and judge for ones self. And this was what Allura planned to do.

To hear that Lance could get her in contact with the infamous Shirogane was something she could not resist. It was a Private Investigator's dream to come into contact with such a high end conman and she’d been trailing rumors for so long, never thinking she’d find him. Being a PI meant she had a lot of free time when people did not come in asking about possible affairs or dirt on politicians.....

As Lance spoke with the woman at the front desk and flirted with her, Allura took in her surroundings. This building looked like a regular bowling alley.... the pins were crashing and the people chatted and talked. Yet she could tell by the subtle vibrations in her heels that there was music booming below where it hardly made a sound above. Perhaps if she put her ear to the floor she might hear it better, but the alley's bowling balls whirling down the aisles and the crashing of pins was easily masking it from those not trained to notice small minute discrepancies.

Lance gestured and she followed through the doors to their left that said 'Employees Only'. "When we get down there just follow my lead. Say nothing until we are seated and I've arranged to meet him, got it?"

The other looked at him skeptically. "I thought you said we were going directly to him?" She couldn’t help be confused when she saw the stairway and began to clack down the stairs behind Lance.

"We are, but you have to wait just a little bit." He winked and Allura was not sure what exactly he was trying to convey.

"What do you mean?" But her mouth dropped open wide as he pushed the doors at the bottom of the stairs open and music suddenly boomed loudly within, the beats sharp and the lights flashing in bright colors. The room smelled like cigarettes and Lance lead her through the crowd towards a table in the back. She, however, let him drag her, her eyes as huge as saucers as she stared at the stage that was surrounded with people holding up money. On stage was an extremely handsome set of men, each wearing what looked like wolf ears and a fake tail. The opposite of bunnies, Allura supposed, though it made them look a little silly. They were shirtless and barely wearing anything to conceal the monsters they’d been born with down yonder.

"You brought me to a STRIP CLUB?!" She forced through her gritted teeth as she turned to Lance, growing redder as the seconds ticked past. "Why did you bring me to a strip club?!"

The other just whistled on stage and said, " _ENCORE! ENCORE!"_ He turned to her as he lounged in the circular booth and grinned. "You thought we only work in fields of sophistication?" He smirked. "The wealthiest politicians come down here. It's the perfect place to suss out a mark." He pointed. "Look, see? These women and men who come here are trying to keep low profiles on it as this is an exclusively male strip club."

"Exclusively?" She had the decency to blush. "You mean every single stripper is..."

"A _bull_ , yep. You won't find any _dairy cows_ on this farm if you know what I mean." He winked again and she was almost speechless because while this wasn't exactly a new idea to her it was strange to actually be at one of such places and have Lance nudge her with his elbow and wink suggestively. "If we're lucky you're in for a real treat."

He waved a hand and called out, " _Dom Pérignon_ for the lady and a bottle of _Sassicaia_ for me. Make it a 2007." He waved and Allura looked at him, shocked.

"Those bottles are, what.... $200 to $400 each?!" She watched him grin and wave a hand dismissively, eyes glinting like he knew something she didn't.

"You think I con people out of their money and don't spend it on luxuries I deserve? It took a lot of work to con that woman at the bar. Her idea of a tip was handing me $2000 US dollars in cash in single hundreds....." Allura raised her eyebrows. "What I do isn't a joke, it's hard work and years of developing charm and personas. For example...."

He gestured forward and Allura was thankful she was good at composing herself in public because a downright brick of a man came walking towards them with said bottles of alcohol and set the glasses down. He was tall and had seriously broad shoulders beyond that crisp black suit. He was muscular and she could see a scar across the bridge of his nose. A mop of white and black hair topped his head and she briefly wondered if it was natural (though she couldn't complain as her own white hair was very much real).

"Your beverages." He said in a deep and silky tone. "Will that be all for the table?"

Lance grinned and reached a hand out, grabbing the other by the tie and dragging him lower, whispering faintly enough that Allura missed what he said. Whatever he’d said though made the man’s lips curl upwards slightly. "Think you can do that, _mi lobo~?"_

She could only stare at him in slight shock and almost a sense of panic when the man nodded to Lance and turned to her as he sat himself down and began to steadily and easily slip his expensive looking coat off, revealing the white shirt beneath. He didn't hesitate to loosen and remove the tie and Lance smirked when Allura turned to look at him in a mix of confused shock, once again red as a tomato. "What did you say to him?!"

Lance merely laughed as the man leaned forward and placed a hand over the table to lift the bottle and pour her some of the ordered champagne.

"Pardon me~" He said and she almost died of a heart attack, his dark soulful eyes and a grin as smooth as butter painting his face in an attractive glow as he leaned forward and placed a hand under her chin. "You are beautiful~ Your partner here said you'd like a show but you look a bit surprised. Did he neglect to tell you we do stripteases like this for booth customers~?" He lifted the glass to her lips and she went from bright red to pale in exactly 0.2 seconds.

"I- I did no such thing!" She sputtered, pushing the drink away and very much considering the term ‘Lady Boner’ (which she always thought was stupid term) to be a very appropriate term for what she was very much experiencing. "I never ordered any of this! Kindly get off of me! We are supposed to be- be meeting someone I'd like to hire! N-not having some ridiculous form of-"

But he had slid away as soon as she said to get off and he sat up with a huge, shit-eating grin. Lance pulled the booth curtains shut and the two shared a long laugh.

Allura, who was now once again red all the way down to her shoulders, looked at them incredulous for a few moments. "You're Shirogane!" She finally said, the gears clicking and the other handsome man smiled.

"Indeed I am."

She glared and smacked him with her napkin. "You bloody tricked me you bastards!" She glared at Lance and stood, harshly smacking the napkin over his head. "This was your idea wasn't it?! You bloody little git! Just to make me completely uncomfortable! How dare you!"

"Forgive us." The other, Shirogane, looked at her apologetically and held her hands up. "Lance asked me to meet you here to see if I could work my charms on you and it appears to have worked. He sort of implied you would know what was happening....." He straightened his tie and shouldered the overcoat again, looking just as prim as he had when he walked over, but flashed Lance a dark and dangerous look. "The name is Shirogane Takashi." He hesitated. "Takashi is what you would call my first name." He added. "I'm-"

"Japanese, yes." She straightened herself from struggling in a slight tug of war with the napkin that Lance had grabbed and she just simply let go, making him stumble back slightly into the booth.

"Hey!"

She smirked and pulled out her reading glasses, taking out her papers in a huff as she sat back down. "And while I am impressed with you Mr. Shirogane-"

"Shiro." He supplied.

".... _.Shiro_." She looked at him and cast Lance a sideways glare. "You could have just met with me instead of coming to this place."

"Again it was Lance's idea and I will be having very strong words with him for tricking me into thinking you knew and subsequently tricking you into this whole mess." Lance pouted and gave a puppy whimper but Shiro ignored it. "And we could have, but, well, you see I kind of own this place." He shrugged. "Bought it on a whim. It's not usually like this; believe it or not this is just a random dance hall beneath the bowling alley." He shrugged. "Usually we set this place up for private parties. You would be surprised how many people want to have a wedding reception down here so they can bowl and have cake. It was easy to call in some favors to get this place set up like this though. Everyone thinks this is the stage of a movie."

"Impressive." She tapped her pen to her lips. "You set all this up?"

"Lance helped."

"I have a lot of people who owe me favors." Lance shrugged. "I just made a few calls, told them where to go and they helped Shiro set it up."

"That doesn't matter." She shook her head. "Has he told you about the plan?"

"Yes." Shiro nodded eagerly. "And I'm a hundred percent on board. I steal for a living... con men and women out of their money so I can have fun and enjoy myself. I target wealthy people because they are easy to exploit...." He gestured. "What you are asking us to do is a challenge and a chance to take down a powerful company CEO and I want to be a part of this." He threw Lance a look. "Besides, I owe him for that jailbreak in Guatemala. Without that I wouldn't have gotten the Daggers of Armenia through customs." 

"Hey, someone had to make a distraction and you were certainly busy. You're welcome." Lance bowed his head and held his hand out in a grand gesture. Allura didn't ask about the scenario and Shiro and Lance didn't seem inclined to add anything more. Allura briefly wondered where those daggers were now. She remembered they had been stolen but how the hell did they end up in Armenia....? And where the hell did Shiro take them once he smuggled them out....? "You have the crew planned." Shiro turned back to her and interrupted her thoughts. "Us Grifters are on board. Who else is on the list?"

Allura read off the names and Shiro nodded, but Lance perked at the fourth name on the list. "NO." His immediate reaction to the name was violent distaste that painted his face with a mixed expression of anger, disgust and revulsion. "There is no way I am working with that man on the team." He clearly hadn't really been paying much attention when she had handed him the list to read earlier.

"He's the best choice, Lance. She's really done her homework."  Shiro replied. "No one else has the combat skill to be the Hitter."

"I don't _care_." Lance crossed his arms and slumped in his seat. "He's a crazy, irritating, irrational, unthinking, unfeeling prick."

"Lance." Shiro rolled his eyes. "It was one time. You know it was for a mission and that was in the past. Let it go."

"Past my ass." He stared pointedly at the wall. "That idiot almost got me killed."

"What are you talking about?" Allura asked. "I specifically designed this team off of people I have investigated and know would work really well together. My mental profiles of all of you are completely accurate," she turned. "Except you, Shiro, you were of course Lance's idea." He nodded. "But everyone else's skills and personality would work in our favor. We couldn't get the job done without him."

"NO." Lance  growled. " _Es un bastardo_." He grit his teeth when Shiro gave him a decidedly strong look. "No way in HELL. That _jackass_ is not going to be on the team; find someone else."

"There is no one else." Shiro's voice was firm and Allura noted that Lance tensed. "He is going to be on the team and work with us on this mission and you are going to put the past behind you."

"I do not understand." Allura looked at Shiro. "Why is Lance so upset about my choice of Hitter?"

Shiro sighed as Lance angrily stood and stormed out of the booth, shoving the curtains aside and leaving. "Because," Shiro watched the other go and frowned. "They're _exes_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters seem to be getting longer, this is good. Hope you are enjoying it and thank you for reading~!


	4. The Hitter

"I swear to god Lance if you don't sit down and act like a civilized person having a civilized conversation then Shiro and I can drop you off and leave you behind for this mission." Allura did not take her eyes off the road but knew what he was doing.

Lance crossed his arms and huffed, grumbling in the back seat of the car. His long legs were up and his feet perched against the top of Shiro's headrest. "I _am_ acting civilized. Besides where we're going isn't civilized anyways, who cares how I sit?"

"Because," she continued, "Our next acquisition might not be used to dressing like what I'd call ritzy and pristine people, but he doesn't have to be classy to do his job." She parked the car and Lance once again grumbled. She turned to the mirror and popped a cap of stark yellow lipstick, smearing it on carefully  (much to their confusion as to why she'd need yellow lipstick with a white set of clothes but who were they to judge?). The three of them finally got out as soon as she was done.

Lance straightened his shirt and looked up at the hotel. "He's not going to leave whatever job he's currently on just to go gallivanting with us on some haphazard mission that's only slightly more appealing than other marks because it involves stealing from a dick who deserves it."

Shiro chuckled when Allura glared at him. "Just follow me and play along."

"What even is this place?" Lance looked up at the building and thought it looked average. Average offices, average people, average everything. Well, not _everything_.

Even in the dark he could see in the street lights that the cars in the parking lot were really quite expensive. Lance could see that the people at the door were armed as they stopped Allura. He could recognize the outline of the pistols even when they tried to hide them in their jackets. Bodyguards heavily armed for an office building...? This had to either be a place with uncommon wealthy stocks, or whatever was inside was a ruse.

"Name's _Lollipop_ , sugar." She flashed a card too quickly and smiled at the men who stopped them. "Private Performer if you catch my drift." Shiro and Lance exchanged looks because obviously she took Shiro’s idea to heart, but Allura simply tilted her head to the side teasingly and cocked her hips just a bit. She pulled her white suit coat down one arm and to Shiro's utter surprise, the dress strap underneath sparkled in shiny gold glitter. She had been hiding something that flashy under her formal clothes and Shiro didn't even notice. Good on her in the disguise department, one couldn't even tell she had it at all.

The guards exchanged glances and Allura giggled. "These two are what you could call my _bodyguards_. They make sure this body is guarded and that the goods are only seen by those who pay for it."

"Do you have an appointment?" One of the men asked, but Lance knew the slight clearing of his throat was because held stared too long at her chest and was trying to compose himself.

"Oh dear, I don't as far as you're concerned." She giggled again. "Client confidentiality and all, but let's just say the big man upstairs has a... _meeting of sorts_... with me..... _alone_..... _upstairs_." She tapped her hand against one of the guard's chests and smiled. "Let me in, cupcakes and I might give you a special performance later tonight.....? It'll be our little _secret_ and the boss won’t see it on the bill~"

Shiro, who was very good at looking imposing, had crossed his arms over his broad chest as soon as he figured out what she was up to (which was startlingly fast) and just looked menacing. Lance had tried to copy the motion and mostly succeeded. He too, after all, was tall enough and broad enough that he could look the part but he tried not to show how confused and slightly turned on he was until after they were let in.

"Uncultured heathens." Allura murmured once they were finally in the elevator and heading down instead of up. "These bloody goons are all the same. Show a little skin, tease them with the idea that you'll be naked in front of them and lo and behold they let you in."

"You're probably one of the smartest private investigators I've ever met." Shiro said, and it was indeed a compliment. "Now I don't mean you're the best, we all know PIs can be extremely good but I like how fast you think on your feet and you came up with the list of people for the team. Also that con you pulled back there wasn't bad. Ever thought of being one of us?"

"One of the bad guys?" She laughed. "No way... no offense."

"None taken." He shrugged. He had a feeling she’d come around eventually.

 _Ding_ went the panel as they stopped and the door opened up to heavy smoke and a racket of laughter beyond. "It's my job to _catch_ the bad guys." She replied with a smirk. They walked past people who were crowding around a center ‘ring’ that said people had created with their bodies, arms waving in the air with money wildly being offered. What was it all these shady things happened in basements.....?

"I have investigated all of you at one point or another," she whispered, 'it was not that hard to figure out who best would work together, though I didn't count on-"

Lance went tense immediately as they finally saw the commotion in the ring. A young man had a much, much larger man in a headlock, the other beating his fist against the ground and gasping out "UNCLE, UNCLE!" The smaller had his long dark hair in a ponytail and was covered in blood, bruises and sweat. There was a large cut across his left cheek and when he had the other firmly in his grip, he turned to spit out blood.

The crowd, who were mostly men in expensive business suits, were roaring in glee as this young man let go and waved his hand forward for the next guy. The new opponent was shirtless just as the smaller one, and he came barreling in too quickly. The smaller sidestepped easily catching him off guard. He grabbed his wrist on the way and pulled it back behind the bigger man, pinning it uncomfortably as his other hand shot out to grab him by the hair and tug harshly back. Losing his balance, the opponent stumbled and fell hard on the ground, probably breaking his arm. He let out a loud cry of pain and the smaller one pinned him with his foot. "Alright who's next?"

" _Keith_." Lance spat the word like it was poison and the startled crowd turned in confusion. The smaller man, Keith, turned to look at who had spoken his name in such a familiar way and glared as he re-wrapped his hands in bandages. "I can't believe you!"

"What the hell are you _doing_ here?!" Keith growled lowly, watching Lance shove his way forward.

Allura gasped and Shiro tried to pull him back, but Lance had slipped through their fingers. "Lance what are you doing?!" Allura demanded, hushed through gritted teeth. "Get back here, we had a plan remember?! Get in, wait for the fight to end, corner him with the proposition and get- what are you doing?!"

Lance forced his way forward and stared down at the other. Keith, who had the most beautiful dark eyes one could imagine, snarled at him. "WHAT?!"

"You left me surrounded by Swedish police!" Lance shoved him and Keith stepped back. "You have me at your side like we have something special and then you abandon me?! What about Prague?! What about that stunt we pulled in Armenia?! YOU ALMOST LET ME GET SHOT BY SMUGGLERS AND ARRESTED BY SWEDISH POLICE!" he shoved him again and Keith took it again and glared, stance firm.

"ME?! What about the diamond, huh?!" He shot back and the crowd looked on in total confusion. "What about that stupid jade bird and the _army knives_?! What about the Cecilian Blackjack?! YOU were supposed to get the cupcakes to the mark and instead you just? You what? Change your mind?! And for the record I didn't leave you to the police you sent the SCCGF on me! I had to DIG out of there with a teaspoon. A GODDAMNED TEASPOON!" They glared harshly at one another and the room grew quiet as these wealthy men looked totally confused. They came for a fight but not a verbal and confusing one.

Lance grit his teeth a moment and then Allura's eyes went completely wide in total shock. One second they were glaring and the next they had locked lips and were kissing each other like they were deep in the throes of passions. “I thought they were old flames?!” She looked at Shiro rather helplessly and Shiro shrugged.

“They… do this a lot.” He didn’t seem to be phased by it. “Their idea of ‘being exes’ is more like yelling at each other, leaving to different continents for a while and then having weird make-up-make-out sessions…. Normally it’s easy for me to intervene but I kind of like watching them go at it.”

She groaned and shook her head. Shiro seemed like the type who wanted a piece of that…… She wouldn’t be surprised if he already had at some point.

"Of all the-" Keith said through kissing and the crowd began to shout and protest in anger, expecting a fight and instead getting an unwanted make-out session.

There were more guards at the door and they began to come closer and Lance sighed into Keith's mouth. "Hold on-" He grumbled, irritated, and moved his jacket to flash the obviously fake police badge he had pinned inside. "You all can clear out now." He mused at their shrieks. "Agent Keith and I are shutting this place down. Anyone caught here when my backup arrives is going to sit their asses in jail." Yeah it was a fake badge but these people didn’t seem to want to chance inspecting it at this point.

Allura was too busy with her hand planted firmly against her face and Shiro was just laughing his ass of as the wealthy men scrambled like roaches. Even the guards were booking it out and Keith noted their tattoos, knowing they scrambled having been ex-cons. By the time they were gone, Lance was looking down at Keith smugly and Keith was grumbling and gathering his stuff.

"Happy to see me~?" Lance mused and Keith's irritation was practically palpable.

"Of all the-" he began.

"Unpredictable?" Lance allowed.

"Half-assed-"

"Unexpected?"

"Mediocre-"

"Irresponsible?"

"STUPID!" Keith shoved his bag against Lance and the other just kept that shit-eating grin stuck on his face. "Things you could have done, you had to go and completely blow my cover!"

" _What?_ It's not like you were doing anything...." Lance followed behind Allura, who was leading the way to the stairs with a huff since the elevator was being forcefully occupied by too many rushing businessmen looking to get away.

"I was undercover!" He replied. "For two months! I was FINALLY minutes away from getting those assbags to tell me where the money was going and why they all made such huge payments and you had to go and blow it." He elbowed Lance in the side. "Why the hell did you bring me out anyways? I never thought I'd see you again after that Swedish Police thing…… and…" He looked up at the car and blinked. "Wait, SHIRO?!" he squinted and ran a hand over his rapidly blackening eye. "Shit I can barely see."

"Hey there, Red." Shiro replied fondly and clapped him on the back, but it was gentle. "We pulled you out for a reason. We have a job for you."

Keith smiled gently in return, but paused and it fell to his natural serious expression. "Whose ‘we'?" He looked at Allura suspiciously, who merely waved slightly as a response.

"We'll discuss it when we get back to HQ. You desperately need some ice and probably something to knock down that swelling." Shiro tried to help him into the back seat but Keith held his hand out to stop him.

"This better be fucking important. I got my ass handed to me and fought off six huge men for this. Wherever we're going better have a bed, a TV, a hot tub, some Xanax and a couple bottles of something strong like _vodka_."

"Well the hot tub, television, and bed I can manage but would you possibly consider wine instead of vodka? I'm afraid I do not typically order anything that strong." Allura shrugged as she got back into the driver’s seat. "I, unlike you lot, do not have oodles of cash to spend on luxury hotels. And you will have to settle for rather awful hotel television. You Americans don't tend to have decent networks in your hotels."

"Speak for yourself." Keith shot back. "I'm _Korean_ - _Canadian_."

"I'm _Cuban!_ " Lance protested rather forcefully, insulted that Allura didn’t know that, considering she picked him up _in Cuba_.

"Japanese American." Shiro shrugged. "So it's my fault I guess." He grinned, trying to make peace as Allura merely laughed because yes she knew but that didn't mean she wasn't going to deliberately drive them all nuts.

"Whatever, I don’t care." Keith grumbled but laid down against Lance's lap in the car, head pounding and seeing the other smirk down at him. He was too tired to care. "Just get me a bed and something to kill the pain other than pain killers. I wanna crash for the next twelve hours."


	5. The Hacker and Technician

"Who’s next on the list?" Allura looked over to Lance when he spoke, only to find him lying on the floor with his legs sitting on a chair, watching her upside down. "I didn't really pay much attention."

"Well that's the tricky part." Allura said. "Our next targets are a duo. They very rarely work on their own and normally it would be a matter of going up to them and enlisting them, but these particular recruits are not the type to agree to a simple face to face meeting."

"What do you mean?" Lance sat up and sat cross-legged on the floor.

"They're hackers." Allura paced back and forth and Keith groaned ad rolled over, covering his head with a pillow. "Or at least one does the hacking."

"Can you PLEASE keep it down? I'm drunk, not dead I can HEAR you, lemme sleep...."

Allura turned her back to Kieth and sat down by the computer, hushing her voice. Lance stuck his tongue out at Keith's interruption and stood, following her. "One of them I believe is a technician but basically they are a hacking duo. They do not care for personal invitations. We have to impress them... especially Clever Rover."

"Who?" It was Shiro. He stood from looking in the fridge where he had hoped to find food, and walked quietly over, placing an arm against the back of Allura's seat, leaning to watch.

"Clever Rover is the hacker's handle."

"A 'handle' is what hackers are known for, be it a particular name left behind each hack or a particular typing pattern or system of hack." Shiro explained when Lance swiveled his head around questioningly. "Some of the better known hackers are so good they leave no trace except for what they want to leave, making them very difficult to find."

"Clever Rover speaks to no one and no one ever catches them." Allura continued. "The only way we know they exist is by their handle, the name Clever Rover, always encrypted on the files or computers they hack."

"They leave it deliberately like a calling card." Lance nodded, understanding.

"As of now I do not have any way of contacting them....." Allura huffed, frustrated. "I thought that through their technician, I might be able to contact and recruit them both. The rumors of Clever Rover being in cahoots with the technician known as, " _The Leg_ " is, as far as I am aware, our only way in."

"That’s the dumbest code name I have ever heard." Keith called from the bed.

"Perhaps, but it makes sense since he does all the legwork in their tag-team." She pointed out. "While I have no clue who Clever Rover is or what they look like, I DO know who 'The Leg' is." She made air quotations when she spoke and turned to the computer. "Being a PI has it’s perks as I often get access to police files from friends at the force who owe me favors." She typed a few things and the image of a young man showed up. "This is _Hunk Garrett_. Active technician and hacker, he is the one who creates all of the physical items that any spy could use. He makes the cameras, the gadgets, coms, explosive devices; if you want to play spy, Hunk is the one to go to."

"He has impressive training." They turned to see Keith standing there, startled as he was so quiet they didn't hear him get out of bed. He clearly wasn't going to get any sleep with them talking, drunk or not. "His skillset is the kind the government cracks down on to enlist as spies. His kind of technical knowledge could be extremely useful, why hasn’t he been recruited by agencies yet?" He must hold his alcohol well as he didn't show any signs of being impaired.

"Because," Allura pointed to a record file with an anonymous photo that had a question mark on it. "Clever Rover found him before he could be tracked down. Every time they get close to Hunk, the hacker covers their tracks and they relocate. I have a few vague photos of Hunk, but it's one of those things where I have no way of truly tracking them down. I was hoping perhaps being in the circle of the opposing side of the law you might have some ideas?" She looked at the others.

"You know..." Lance leaned in to look at the picture closer. "This is going to sound really weird but I think I know that guy.... Well.... 'Charles' knows him. He's one of my 'blend into society' personas and you are not going to believe this but...." He pulled back and looked amused. "I had lunch with him a week ago. Though I didn’t know his name was Hunk..."

They looked at him, incredulous. " _How the hell do you know him?!"_ Keith looked insulted. Hunk wasn't bad looking and the Hitter wore jealousy openly like a glove.

"Believe it or not I met him having lunch." Lance shrugged as if oblivious to his disapproving look. "It was a buffet in Hawai’i and oh god they have like the best pineapple daiquiris _anywhere_. Anyways, he was at the buffet and we got to talking and he was cheerful. He said his name was Joe and we chatted a while and yeah I kind of have his phone number."

Allura blinked, more than astonished. "So you just _happened_ to come across a spy-class gadget technician who is partners with the most talented and elusive hacker in the entire world, and you got his phone number and didn’t call it?!"

"How was I supposed to know he was this awesome?! We literally talked about flight sickness and the merits of cream cheese having bits in it. Not exactly world class hacker material....."

" _Technician_." Shiro and Keith said at once.

"Whatever." Lance pulled out his cellphone and began to search through it. "Hang on and let me sift through the numbers....."

"It doesn’t matter." Allura said, turning to the computer and typing rapidly. "I might not be a hacker but my resources can track faces from last known location. If I can search the Hawai’ian security feeds I might be able to do a face match cross search. When you answer the phone, try to keep him on the line-"

But the computer suddenly froze and went black. _"What?!"_

Suddenly a cartoon pigeon carrying dynamite and wearing sunglasses began to tilt back and forth on the screen.

"I lost my feed- I can't do anything." Allura growled. "This is hopeless. I knew if we got close, Clever Rover would shut us down." She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Well _DUH_." 

Nothing is more startling to a group of thieves and a PI than hearing a completely unrecognizable voice on the other side of the room and they all turned, Keith taking up a defensive stance immediately.

There seated on the bed, legs criss-crossed and wearing a headset and glasses, was a _teenager_. Probably around 18 at the most.

"How did you get in here?" Shiro demanded and the other shrugged and leaned back, calling, "You can come out now Hunk, they still haven't figured it out."

Seconds ticked by and a phone started to ring... not one of theirs but one from behind the curtain where a young man came out and grinned. "Hang on Pidge I gotta take this call, it might be _important_." He grinned and Lance, phone to his ear, grinned back at him and hung up the call.

"After I took all that time to bug this place you'd think these world class crooks would actually check for listening devices." Hunk was wearing all black gear and a harness like he had just jumped down the outside of the building and come in through the window carrying the hacker "Pidge" on his back.

Which.... to be fair is probably _exactly_ what happened.

"You're the hacker...." Allura was shocked that this small teenager was even on the bed. Adjusting her glasses, the teenager nodded. "That I am. _Clever Rover_. Pidge Gunderson, or you might know me by a different name....." the teen cleared their throat to copy Allura's accent rather convincingly and took off her glasses. "The _lovely_ Lady Katrina Stoker, fourth Baroness of the house of Stoker." She grinned, amused.

Allura's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "You were at that banquet in Edinburgh! All this time _you_ were the hacker?!" She pressed a hand to her head and sat down. "That means that the stolen 50 million euros was you!"

" _Us_ actually!" Hunk leaned against the bed and hugged the teen by her side fondly. "Pidge and I are a team, right?"

Pidge grinned. "Exactly. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have without his help."

"And I without hers." Hunk sat properly on the bed beside his younger cohort, the teenage girl still giving them one of the most smug looks Allura had ever seen. She was basically tiny... a mop of (slightly reddish) brown hair and lightly dusted freckles behind huge round glasses. She could tell just by looking at her that she was smart... probably more clever than anyone else in the room and she seemed to know it too but didn't really ooze that pretentious nature that went along with it, just a rather extreme sense of confidence in her own skills. Hunk on the other hand, was much bigger- broader, and a gentle face but determined eyes and darker hair and darker skin much like Lance’s with a beautiful tan.

"Why are you here?" Lance moved over to shake Hunk's hand warmly and beamed at him. "You are exceptional, did you know that? Nice grifting back in Hawai’i by the way. I didn’t even realize you were a hacking technician! You fooled a Grifter! But why are you here?"

Keith crossed his arms and huffed quietly, still very jealous of this display.

"We know what you're up to. Vaguely. _Sort of_." Hunk shrugged. "Not really."

"We don’t know what you're up to but a PI collecting loads of information on us along with some of the world's top thieves, crooks and all around bad guys?" Pidge grinned. "I monitor any activity that tries to locate me. It's so much easier to keep track of search keywords and avoid and evade than engage. But whatever you're doing? We want in. Whatever the score is must be HUGE to gather all of us. And there is no way in hell you’d be gathering us without a score in mind." She closed her laptop and looked at Allura. "I know who else is on the list.... you have the Hacker, Technician, Hitter, Grifters and you, who I am assuming is taking the Mastermind role." She gestured to Allura. "But have you picked out a thief?"

"I have." She replied, impressed. "I want the Black Cat; the Gallileo Bandit..... they all have the same name; I want _Matt_." She replied. "He's currently-"

"Breaking into the Smithsonian." Pidge smirked. "Setting his sights on the Hope Diamond because it’s currently on display. He's going to get it too, but he won’t keep it for very long. He's going to basically steal it, film himself on the camera with it and put it back, trip the alarm and then disappear without a trace."

"How... did you know that?" Allura tilted her head. "The Black Cat never steals anything that we know of, he-"

"Likes the thrill of the catch and to prove he can do it." She shrugged. "Yeah I know."

Shiro and Keith exchanged looks and Lance looked at Hunk, who grinned. "Wait for it." He said. "This'll make sense in three...."

"He's a stubborn, irritating thief who rarely actually does any stealing....." Pidge continued.

"Two..."

"But when he does it’s amazing. He can be one of the most annoying people in the universe but he’s also the most reliable and protective person I know."

"One...."

"The Black Cat is Matthew Holt." Pidge shrugged. "He's my _brother_."


	6. The thief

"So thievery completely runs in the family then, doesn’t it?" Lance asked, looking over the chair into the back seat. Allura and Shiro had the driver and shotgun seats respectively, as Shiro was more mature than the others. Lance and Keith were in the middle and Hunk and Pidge were in the back. Pidge had her earbud in and was listening in one ear, typing and talking all at the same time. "You could say that." She said, her nimble fingers never stopping what she was doing. Clearly the hacker was uniquely gifted, for not many could do that sort of multitasking to the level she could, but then she was known to have an impressively high IQ and eidetic memory.

Hunk on the other hand…. people tended to easily _misperceive_ as being childlike and unintelligent all due to his easygoing, gentle and kind nature. He liked to blow hot breath against the cold window of the car and drew faces in the steam. Then, pleased with himself, he would grin and turned back to watch Pidge work. However, the technician was anything but idiotic or dim. His brain ran calculations so quickly that he never needed tape to take measurements, always knew exactly what wires needed to cross where, and had taken apart and put back together his father’s car engine by the time he was six years old. Most of the time he knew what needed to be done before anyone had voiced it and had been the only one of their group other than Pidge and Shiro to attend college and was the only one to graduate with a _PHD_ in his field.  Perceptive and keen, he could tell you how much work a person’s computer needed by the distinctive sound of its fan.

"I don’t like this." Keith muttered, arms crossed over his chest. He'd been grumbling since they got in the car and had every right to. He stood like he was always on alert to his surroundings. Not like a soldier, but like the hired gun that he was. He had seen a lot of things and you could tell by the look in his eyes that he did not yet trust anyone except perhaps Shiro. Even Lance, the one who currently held his affections and who so openly displayed his interest in the closed-off mercenary, he did not seem to fully trust. "There's so many of us... it’s going to be ridiculously difficult to completely form a cohesive plan. Not all of us are _predictable_." As he said this, he shot a glare to Lance, who was leaning sideways in his chair so his feet were up in Keith’s face, much to his dismay.

"Maybe." Shiro acknowledged. "But we are all _thieves_ and that code of honour we live by is something stronger than we give ourselves credit for."

"Yeah." Lance sat back and shrugged. "We steal shit all the time but all of us actually only steal from rich people, did any of you notice that?"

"Oh I noticed." Allura had a smile pressed against her lips, actually a little surprised at Lance’s observation. He seemed a lot more perceptive than she had initially thought, but it made sense as he was always Grifting. Good and true grifters had to be perceptive and adaptive to their marks. Lance was the epitome of the charming flirt. Glancing at the others in the back through the rear view mirror, she continued to study them in silence for a moment. She felt so much older than them, regardless if she wasn’t so in reality. They all sort of behaved like children in ways. They all stole things, the grifters played pretend for a living, the hitter threw temper tantrums, the hacker and technician played with expensive toys and all of these children sure liked to _bicker_. The only one who seemed to be more mature was Shiro, which was why she had decided he could have the coveted shotgun seat.

"You know," Shiro said, finally breaking his own silence with a fond smile. It got everyone’s attention and Allura admired his trustworthy presence that commanded respect without threatening anyone first. Shiro had this air about him that both commanded respect and showed a refined elegance and charm. He probably tended to older marks or more shy people who did not go for Lance’s openly flirtatious and frivolous nature.  "They call this seat the shotgun seat because people used to aim shotguns out the windows in the getaway cars and this was the ample seat for it as the driver was busy."

"Didn’t stop people from shooting them in the back of the head through the glass." Keith pointed out bluntly.  He always seemed to speak so candidly. "It was a sort of good idea but ideally you'd have a gun aimed out of every window here-" He gestured. "Here, here and here and then ducking low you'd have two aiming out the back. Makes the car heavier but works for protection. Maneuvering requires shotguns because it has a longer range but shrapnel of the windows is risky so the gunners would duck behind the headrests. Even better, they would have cut a long hole out of the back window to aim."

Lance looked at him and rose an eyebrow, leaning in closer. "Oooh~ Go on, say something else badass and threatening, it’s sexy~"

Pidge stuck out her tongue. " _Ew_." She said immediately. "Hunk make them stop it's distracting."

Hunk leaned forward and gripped both of them by the shoulders, every so friendly but his grip was startlingly strong. "Do us a favour and keep the sex talk and flirting to a minimum when Pidge is working please, she has enough problems not being interested already so let's not make her uncomfortable hmm?" The way he said it was so nice but those hands had torn apart cars and put them back together piece by piece it was not an illogical assumption to assume he knew the layout of the human skeletal structure and Lance was impressed, grinning and sending him flirtatious wink.

Immediately Keith’s respect for the other grew from 60% to 110%.

But Keith was also very stubborn and in the midst of being impressed he glared. If looks could kill he’d be a serial killer. "Don’t tell me what to do." He snarled, but behaved as he shoved the other’s arm off. Hunk might not be a Hitter but he was built to be one and Keith could recognize raw strength when he saw it. Hunk could probably bench Lance in his sleep, which was one reason Lance liked Keith, and another reason for Keith to be ever so slightly jealous that Lance had Hunk's phone number and probably went on a date with him.

He wasn’t _bitter_.

 _Not at all_.

Not that Keith himself wasn't slightly attracted to the prospect of that raw strength though, let’s be real. But it was the principal of the thing. "You can't tell me what to do." He said again but with less threat and more pointedly. After a moment he glared at Pidge, who didn't even look up, but Hunk gripped him and Lance together by the hair and not too hard but definitely using a bit more force than was probably necessary, turned their heads to face the front.

Lance looked wounded by the action and huffed. "Hey! You can’t do this to me! Keith, _mi prometido_! Do something!"

"I AM NOT YOUR FIANCE YOU IDIOT YOU HAVE TO PROPOSE FIRST." Kieth angrily punched the back of Allura's seat and she gripped the wheel.

_Children._

"DO I HAVE TO TURN THIS CAR AROUND?" she threatened and they groaned and slumped in their seats. Hunk, pleased, just smiled and Pidge typed and clicked away, smirking.

Hunk was very protective, which was exactly what Allura was counting on for all of them. they would get used to each other's company, she just hoped it was sooner rather than later.

The museum was already under heavy alarms when they made it and Pidge was clicking out of her seat and hurrying out of the car with her gear before they could even stop. "Where is she going?!" Keith shoved out to follow her, almost tripping and had to chase her down when she got close to the building. He grabbed her by the shoulder. "Hey- HEY." He stopped her and she looked up.

"What?!" She demanded.

"I'm the Hitter on this team, got it? Don’t go in without me! I'm here to _protect_ you."

"I don't need protecting like some child." She shoved his hand off and Keith glared.

"I don’t CARE if you do or don't this is MY area of expertise-" He pointed. "Two guards.... ex-military. You can tell by the stances and shoes." He gestured again. "Extra cameras up there... one catches you and the secondary alarm goes off and you have ten more guys on your ass. Already you know the alarm is going off- these guards are waiting to shoot whoever comes out. You're NOT going in there alone. Hacking the system? Maybe. Taking out a few guards? I'm positive you can kick ass but that's a LOT of ass to kick. Let me have your back."

Pidge thought a minute and relented. "Fine.  But Matt is my brother. I know where he’s going to be." She grabbed Keith's wrist and ran, pulling him with as she neared a separate building just as a shadow caught Keith's attention above. Someone had leapt over the rooftop to the other and very skillfully, he noted.

The guards were running everywhere and Keith adjusted his fingerless gloves. "Go." He said. "We have three on our tail, I'll keep them off your back." He turned to face them and took up his fighting stance, balancing himself.

She didn’t stop to watch the carnage as he beat the shit out of the guards, calling up to the roof. "Oi! Matt!"

The shadowed figure who was dressed in all black, turned slightly after a rather skillful and bendy exit through a thin window, the slim-bodied thief easily fitting like he were boneless. "Sis? If I had known you were gonna be here I would have ACTUALLY stolen the diamond this time." He stood and quickly grabbed a gutter pole off to the side of the building, sliding down quickly. "I have guards on my ass we need to get out of here."

"Matt I want you to come with me for this huge score." She said and he laughed.

"I'm not in it for the money." He shrugged. "You know that."

"I know..." She also knew he had his huge secret bank account that she often tapped into for funds when she wanted to experiment with tech, and that the money was in no way earned on his end. "But trust me... this is going to be fun. We have Hunk, Shiro... Lance..." She started and Matt pulled her behind him in an instant.

"Someone’s coming...." He hissed, grip tight and like this he blended into the shadows so well he was almost invisible.

The footsteps quickened as they neared the corner and then Pidge tugged on his arm, pulling his hand off her mouth. "Calm down bro it’s Keith."

Said Hitter cracked his neck and knuckles as police sirens began to flare around them. "Are we going to stand around all day or are we going to get into the van and GO?!" He was painted in a nice assortment of blood and Matt’s eyes widened as he could tell it was no blood of his own.

Pidge exchanged looks with Matt and they both nodded, following Keith down the length of the buildings and bolted, rushing to the van just as the cops were beginning to get out of their cars and point and gesture to the three running away.

"WOO!" Matt pumped his fists into the air. "I haven't had this much fun at a theft in a while!" He slid into the seat next to his sister and Hunk and Keith closed their doors as Allura was already taking off.

"Did you get it?" Pidge asked eagerly.

"Oh I got it." Matt started to rummage through his pocket with the pleased kind of smugness only a thief could muster.

"I thought you said he doesn’t steal things?" Lance asked, curious.

"Of course I steal things. I just steal things no one’s expecting me to steal." He shrugged, pulling out a beautiful sapphire. "Well ok, stuff a thief won’t typically steal. If they think I was stealing the diamond and saw me put it back, imagine their surprise when they find several rubies and sapphires are mysteriously gone... even though it’s not on the tapes."

"Bro's slight-of-hand is _wild_." Pidge nudged him and he grinned, low-fiving his sister.

"You’ve got quite a motly crew here..." He noticed as he placed his hands behind his head. "Good to see you again Shiro.” The other didn’t glance back but a faint smile crept across his lips. “I think I've heard of all of you at one point or another." He looked shrewdly at the driver's seat and the back of Allura's head. "Pidge tells me you're a PI. What's a PI want with all of us?" He asked. "Why should we all agree to be here?"

Pidge chuckled and Keith turned to look at Shiro, who was grinning wider now.

"The job I have in mind is going to be interesting...” Allura said as she drove off into the night. “And if it works we will all get a lot and I mean a _LOT_ of money....."


End file.
